The greatest internationals of the century: Nos. 22 to 20

22. Virender Sehwag

by Sidharth Monga
Overall: 17,252 runs at 40.40 ave, 92.56 SR; 136 wickets
Two hundred and sixteen players have scored 3000 or more runs in Test cricket. None have done so at a strike rate quicker than Sehwag's 82.23; and his 8586 runs came at an average nudging 50. Most of those runs he scored as an opener, traditionally the most difficult spot to bat at, when the bowlers are fresh, the ball is new and the pitch untested.
Those who watched the game sitting next to him in the dressing room speak of Sehwag's frustration if a batter in the middle defended a half-decent delivery. No player was perhaps captured as well by a commercial they appeared in as Sehwag once was. "The ball's home is beyond the boundary," he said in one. "Send it there."

With this mindset you would expect him to excel in limited-overs cricket - and he did - but it was in Test cricket that Sehwag left the most indelible imprint. New ball, attacking fields, dying moments of the day - everything that otherwise draws circumspection was to him an opportunity to hit the ball into the big open spaces. He did so for long enough to have scored three of India's five highest individual scores, two of them triple-centuries.

More than any numbers, though, Sehwag was about the effect he had on the viewer. When he batted, the sport seemed full of unabashed joy, short on inhibition, a reminder that nine fielders can cover only so much of the ground. That batting is not about outcomes, just watching the ball, hitting it and enjoying the sound.

Ashish Nehra on Virender Sehwag: Forget his triple- and double-hundreds, and his centuries. For me, Viru's best knock was the 83 he made in 68 balls to win the Chennai Test against England in 2008. Even in this generation, I don't see any Test openers score at that pace on a day-five pitch. And that came against a quality England bowling attack - [James] Anderson, [Steve] Harmison, [Andrew] Flintoff, [Graeme] Swann and [Monty] Panesar.

Normally when batters, even when they are doing well, are beaten once or twice, they are bothered by what happened. But for Viru, say, if he was beaten seven out of ten balls he faced but hit two boundaries, he would remain unfazed. Mindset - that was his biggest asset.

While he did evolve as a player, he never tinkered much with his game; he stuck to his strengths. If a fast bowler pitched a bouncer, he would duck, but if that same bowler delivered a 150kph ball outside off stump first ball of a Test, he would slash it for a four.

His balance at the crease was superb and that helped him deal with the moving ball despite barely having any trigger movement. And he was extremely good against spin: cutting, hitting over cover and mid-off were things he did with ease once he was set.

On a day he was batting well, even if it was the last delivery before stumps, even if he was on 94, 144 or 194, he wouldn't shy away from hitting a six. His mindset was: the bowlers are tired, the wicket is flat, we can think about tomorrow morning tomorrow.

21. Mahela Jayawardene

by Andrew Fidel Fernando
Overall: 24,182 runs at 39.84 ave, 65.41 SR
At the crease Jayawardene's batting was so smooth, it was liquid. On his best days you could drop him on any kind of pitch, and like water taking the shape of the vessel it entered, he would find the game's contours, round its curves, smooth out its edges, and fill whole stadiums with rippling delight. The aesthetic was effortless.
In his hands a reverse sweep was as sweet as a late cut was as gorgeous as a hook shot was as languid as a flick through fine leg. It was never just about looks, though. The substance was unmissable. He hit three fifties in his first five Test innings, and in his sixth, he hit 167 on a dessicated Galle surface where no other batter could make even as much as 55. He remains the only one to have hit hundreds in both an ODI World Cup semi-final, and a final, though he never raised that particular trophy. He did win the 2014 T20 World Cup, however, with Sri Lanka.

As good as his batting was, he is also remembered for being a master tactician, frequently reading pitches and oppositions better than any other player on the field. His captaincy was the blueprint for Sri Lanka's outstanding white-ball run between 2007 and 2014, during which bowling variety, mystery spin and aggressive batting became hallmarks. His success with Mumbai Indians and other franchises in the years since his retirement has only embellished his reputation for cricketing intelligence.

Dimuth Karunaratne on Jayawardene: Mahela's cricket brain as a player and a captain were just incredible. He knew his own game inside out and had a game plan every time he went out. He understood what he needed to do in any situation. As a captain, he's the best I've ever seen in my international career. On my first overseas tour - in Australia - he just gave me unbelievable confidence. And he reads the game and analyses players so well. He has a plan for everyone.

As a batter he was always someone who wanted to be on top, and he takes risks to establish that dominance if he needs to. Against spin he was especially good and almost never gave them the chance to dictate terms to him. When he's batting well, he's controlling the entire game - it's not the bowlers or fielders who are running the show, it's Mahela.